Port au Prince - April 29, 2008 ---

Acting Police Commissioner Mario Andresol, whose accomplishments include bringing kidnappings under control, has stressed that he is just as upset as the community at large that criminals continue to strike and make ransom demands on victims’ families.

He is in charge of Haiti’s National Police, and has acknowledged that the media has given the police force, the recognition it deserves for a job well done.

During the major holiday seasons, when Haiti experiences an increase in the number of visitors, he urges Haitians during various TV spots to be vigilant and careful.

His comments came as the scourge of kidnappings has taken a new twist. Previously, Haiti was a close second to the world’s leading cocaine haven, Colombia, for the rate of abductions for ransom. Despite the Government making a kidnapping a crime that holds a consequence of life imprisonment, the criminals continue to rule the roost.

Now, according to legal sources, the families of kidnapped victims are being warned not to inform the Police of the crime for risk of having the ransom demand doubled, or the victims killed.

According to Haitian media, terrified family members are complying with these warnings, keeping the National Police in the dark when relatives are kidnapped. Currently, kidnappers are targeting high profile families, entertainers, and prominent business officials. Since the stakes have risen, ransoms have risen too.

During one prominent kidnapping (name withheld) the father was contacted and asked to pay a ransom, as well as warned not to alert the Police or the ransom would be increased. In an evil twist, when he was asked how much he could afford, the kidnappers added the figure he mentioned to the original ransom.
Following the kidnapper’s instructions, the father dropped off the ransom at the pick-up point they described, and like clockwork, his child was back in his arms, safe and sound.

This is a new twist on how kidnapping’s are conducted in Haiti and does not bode well for the well-to-do. Kidnappers have fine-tuned their operations, and continue to do business with impunity despite the establishment of the life sentence law.

Questioned about these reported new tactic, Andresol said that as far as he knew, it was always standard procedure for kidnappers to warn families of victims not to alert the police.

“That has always been the case.” Andresol asserted, adding that the media has been kind in the way they have portrayed the efforts of the National Police.
“In almost every instance the media has supported us.” he stated.

With respect of the continued spate of kidnappings, Andresol commented: “I am upset like the national community, and I am prepared to use all the energy and all the forces, and all the intelligence available to stop kidnappings.”

He added, “Rest assured, I remain loyal to law enforcement in this country.” Haiti struggles to confront the many problems it is currently has, and even though kidnappings have decreased, they continue to plague the poor impoverished country